


The Spaces Between Our Stars

by Rand0mSmil3z



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cloud and Tifa are there for each other, Dealing With Loss, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, I just really want these two to be happy, One Shot, Sailboat AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26051803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rand0mSmil3z/pseuds/Rand0mSmil3z
Summary: Despite having never spoken before, Tifa fell in love with him every single day.As a waitress working beside the docks, Tifa would watch Cloud repair his sailboat - a broken, wrecked thing that had been towed in after a particularly nasty storm. Every morning they would wave to each other, every morning they'd share a small, secret smile, but they would never actually talk.Another storm that sends Cloud into the restaurant changes that, and from then on, Tifa slowly learns a little bit more about the man that she falls in love with every day... and realizes, while they take out his sailboat for the first time, that maybe he had been falling in love with her every day, too.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Comments: 20
Kudos: 83





	The Spaces Between Our Stars

**Author's Note:**

> I don't usually write one-shots, but this fic idea hit me so hard a few days ago that I _had_ to write it. It's definitely different from my usual writing style, but I hope you like it regardless 😊
> 
> Enjoy!

_Despite having never_ _spoken_ _before, Tifa fell in love with him every single day._ _Fell in love with h_ _ow the sun haloed his blond hair and the sea air pulled at his linen clothes. How he never failed to wave at her while she was working her waitressing shift, how they shared a secret smile before he made his way to the docks and onto his old sailboat. How he_ _continued_ _trying to repair the boat,_ _day after day after day,_ _even though the mast had broken, the hull was scraped, and it never looked like it would never kiss the open ocean again._

_“Oh, you didn’t know?” Marle,_ _her_ _manager, had told her when she had asked about it. “The boat belonged to his best friend before he passed away.” She paused, her weathered finger tapping against her lip. “Something about a storm?”_

_After that,_ _Tifa_ _would notice how the blond-haired man kept checking the horizon, his icy-blue gaze searching for clouds._

* * *

Tifa couldn’t remember the last time the sky had been so clear. It was a perfect sort of day, with the sea birds crying to the wind and the clouds swept across the sky as if they had been painted on. Waves lapped at the oysters hugging the dock’s thick wooden columns, and she could taste the salty air as she opened the gate and slowly made her way down the dock’s length. A cool breeze pulled at her summer dress. The ocean burbled beneath the weathered wood she walked across.

As she had predicted, Cloud was already on his small sailboat, affectionally re-named _The Reunion._ All of the scuffs against its paint had been smoothed, all of its broken pieces mended, and he had just finished polishing its dark-wood deck the day before. Now he was hauling a cooler aboard, so focused in his task that he didn’t even notice her approach.

“Good morning, Cloud,” Tifa called, as not to startle him.

Cloud was startled anyway, and his head snapped up in alarm before his lips tugged into a smile. “Morning,” he greeted. His sleeves were rolled up and exposed his small tattoo of feather, and his normally pale skin was already looking a little pink from sunshine. “You look nice.”

“Well, of course!” The dock swayed beneath her feet, a gentle rocking that had her bending her knees for balance. “Today’s the big day, after all.”

Cloud’s smile broadened – she didn’t think she had ever seen him so happy. “Today’s the big day,” he agreed.

“Good day for sailing?”

Cloud shoved the cooler beneath the bench before lifting his gaze to the horizon. It was a smooth line today, a simple divide between the pale sky above and the rich blues of the sea below. There wasn’t a cloud visible against the sea, and when he turned back to her, the salty breeze mussing his already messy hair, he was grinning.

“Definitely.”

* * *

_It_ _had been_ _raining the first time they had spoken. The rain_ _had been_ _coming down in sheets_ _that day_ _and_ _had been pounding_ _against the restaurant’s windows,_ _the water rippling_ _against_ _the thick_ _panes_ _as it_ _had_ _snaked down to the water-logged earth below. Tifa_ _had been_ _content to listen_ _to its_ _steady drone, having been distracted with the cash register,_ _when the door_ _had_ _suddenly_ _been thrown_ _open._

_“Welcome to Seventh_ _Heav_ _-” she_ _had_ _automatically began, only for the words to die in her throat_ _when she noticed who, exactly, had just walked in._

_The blond-haired man._

_The same blond-haired man who waved to her ever morning, who shared a secret smile with her, before making his way to his ruined boat._

_“Sorry,” he_ _had_ _immediately apologized. He_ _hadn’t_ _move_ _d_ _away from the door, sparing the rest of the_ _restaurant_ _from getting dripped on._ _Tifa remembered how he had been soaked through; h_ _is white linen shirt had been plastered to his skin, his pants three shades darker as they_ _clung to him_ _, and he_ _had been_ _running an impatient hand through his hair, his fingers ripping out the tangles. “Sky suddenly opened up.”_ _That’s what he had said, but his_ _eyes_ _had been a_ _little wild,_ _as if something more than the sudden storm had forced him inside._ _“_ _Um, m_ _ind if I -”_

_“Not at all!” Tifa_ _had_ _quickly_ _said_ _. It_ _had been_ _a slow day anyway; besides the two of them, Marle, and her coworker Jessie, the rest of the restaurant_ _had been_ _empty. “Let me get you a towel.”_

_“Are you sure? I don’t_ _mean_ _to be a bother, I just...”_

_“You’re not a bother.” Tifa_ _had pulled the softest towel out of the storage closet before handing it to him, and they had pretended not to notice that their fingers had brushed together._ _“Here –_ _y_ _ou need it more than we do.”_

_The man’s fingers had been tightly wrapped within the towel’s plush fabric. “I’m Cloud,” he had suddenly told her._

_Tifa had smiled in reply. “_ _Tifa,”_ _she had replied, and Cloud had stayed until the storm let up._

* * *

“Are you sure that your manager is okay with you taking the day off?” Cloud suddenly asked. He was now checking all of the lines, making sure that nothing was frayed despite being brand new, that there weren’t any knots, that everything was perfect. Tifa had never known that such calloused hands could be so careful. So gentle. “I mean, this _was_ pretty short notice...”

“Of course they’re okay with it.” Tifa placed a hand on his arm, and she could feel him lightly tense beneath her touch. “They understand.”

Cloud slowly exhaled before turning to her, his smile faint. “Thank you.”

Tifa grinned at him. “What are you thanking me for?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, shrugging. “For coming.”

“Of _course_ I’d come, Cloud.” Tifa’s hand squeezed his arm, and she could see a faint blush kissing his high cheekbones. Starlight danced beneath her skin upon seeing it. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

His blush deepened. “Well, thank you. I… appreciate it.”

Once again, it struck her just how little he expected from the world. Like every small kindness was to be cherished, every little blessing was something to be clung to, every unexpected moment of joy was something worth remembering.

She wanted that, too.

“Let’s see if _The Reunion_ is finally seaworthy,” she told him.

His grin turned positively boyish, and without another word, he untied off of the dock’s cleat.

The ocean lapped the boat’s hull as they cast off.

* * *

_To Tifa, Cloud had become something like the sun._ _She_ _hadn’t been able to_ _bear_ _looking_ _at him directly; the_ _storm_ _incident, and_ _the_ _soft smile_ _he had given her when_ _she had given him the towel, had still been too fresh in her mind. It had given her butterflies every time she thought about it. But his constant presence on the dock, even when he_ _had been_ _out of her line of sight, would warm something deep within her. The sound of his hammer against the ship’s deck had calmed_ _her_ _. His small wave whenever he passed by the restaurant had her heart skipping. Sometimes,_ _she had been_ _so caught up in the moment that she’d almost forget to wave back._

_“God, this is brutal to watch,” Jessie had finally, and loudly, announced during their_ _shared_ _closing shift. The sea air had frizzed_ _Jessie’s_ _brunette hair, and she_ _had_ _impatiently pulled it back into a messy bun as she continued, “Just_ talk _to him already!”_

_“But he’s busy!”_ _Tifa had protested. “I mean, look at him! He’s working so hard on his sailboat right now, and I don’t want to distract him.” With that she had turned away, back towards the window and to the docks… only to see his bright shock of blond hair, burnt gold by the setting sun, turned towards her._

_She had blinked in surprise,_ _suddenly realizing: H_ _e had been looking at her._

_And apparently he_ _had noticed that he had been caugh_ _t, because he then quickly looked away and busied himself with staining the deck’s wood, his movements rough and jerky._

_Jessie had seen the entire exchange, and her lips had twitched into a smirk. “I don’t think you’d be a distraction, love.”_

_Marle_ _had_ _laughed from behind the counter._

_Tifa had buried her face in her hands and groaned._

* * *

Tifa had never thought that she would consider a sailboat _graceful._

Yet here they were, slipping in between the other moored boats as they made their way to the mouth of the harbor, every bit as graceful as a dancer weaving through a crowd. Tifa had perched herself on one of the cushions deep in the cockpit and watched the shoreline effortlessly slip by while Cloud had positioned himself by the boat’s stern, steering the rudder, carefully guiding his ship towards open ocean.

“So?” Tifa glanced at him over her shoulder, the salty air playing with her hair. “How does she feel?”

“Good.” Cloud’s brow knotted as he eased left, giving a larger yacht a wide berth. “She’s easy.”

“I don’t think any girl would like to be called _easy,”_ Tifa teased, only for another voice to interrupt their conversation.

 _“_ _No way!”_ Someone on the yacht shouted their way, snagging their attention, and Tifa turned to see a larger man leaving over the yachts railing, his eyes round as he watched them pass by. “Cloud!” His face broke out in a grin. “Look at you, man!”

Cloud grinned in response. “Hey, Wedge!”

The man, Wedge, glanced over his shoulder. “Guys guys guys, it’s _Cloud!_ He’s sailing! Biggs, take a look!”

“No way,” came another voice – Biggs, Tifa assumed – before he joined Wedge. Biggs was slightly taller than Wedge, with short brown hair and eyes crinkled in a smile. Pressing his hands against the railing, he called, “Look at you, buddy. Finally took her out.”

Cloud’s expression softened. “Finally.”

And, suddenly, Tifa wished that they were talking about her instead of the boat.

“We’ll celebrate tonight!” shouted a third man, this one much larger than the other two. He lifted his prosthetic arm in a wave, and light glinted against its metal as he said, “Drinks on us!”

Cloud only laughed; laughed in a way he never laughed on the shore. “I’m holding you to that, Barret!”

The large man, Barret, laughed in reply. “Hell yes!”

Without warning, it occurred to Tifa that Cloud seemed more free here. More open, and she wanted to see more of that. She wanted to meet who this Cloud was, the Cloud who felt most at home on the open sea. There was color to his cheeks. A constant smile on his lips, like any moment he was going to break into laughter.

Cloud grinned, shifting the boat so that it straightened. “You’re right; she’s not easy,” he said, effortlessly jumping back to their earlier conversation. He turned to her, and his blue eyes caught the sunlight in a sudden, breathless sort of way. “But I love her anyway.”

Once again, Tifa wished that he was talking about her and not the boat, but she only smiled and said, “I’m sure you do.”

Cloud’s smile carried them through the mouth of the harbor and into the deep blue water beyond.

* * *

_Tifa_ _had seen_ _her chance a few weeks later._ _One of the cooks had made an extra order of fish tacos, and not wanting it to go to waste, she had carefully packed it up in a to-go container and_ _had_ _made her way down to the docks during her lunch break. There_ _had been_ _a bite to the ocean breeze_ _that day_ _, a chill that had her rubbing her arms as she_ _had_ _opened the dock gate and_ _had_ _walked down the dock’s weathered planks. Her heart_ _had_ _crawled up to her throat the moment she saw that familiar blond hair, wind-blown and bleached from the sun._

_“Um...” She_ _had_ _cleared her throat as she approached, not wanted to startle him. “U_ _m_ _, hi, Cloud.”_

_Cloud_ _had_ _stared at her as she approached, as if he_ _hadn’t been able_ _to_ _believe what he was seeing. “Tifa? Are you...” He sat upright, forgetting his tools for a moment. Grease_ _had_ _streaked his white shirt, and there were dark fingerprints on his cheeks, as if he had rubbed his face in exasperation. “Are you allowed to be here?”_

 _“It’s my lunch break,” Tifa_ _had_ _said by way of explanation. It_ _had been_ _strange; even though this was technically their first conversation since the_ _storm_ _incident, she_ _hadn’t_ _felt_ _awkward._ _In fact, she had_ _felt warm despite the ocean spray misting the air with every gentle gust. “Brought you something.”_

_Cloud’s brow_ _had_ _pinched at that, only to shoot upward in surprise when she_ _had_ _handed him the to-go container. “Our cooks made some extra by mistake,” Tifa_ _had_ _said, “and I didn’t want it to go to waste. Hope you like fish tacos.”_

_“Oh, um...” Cloud’s cheeks, also pink from exertion,_ _had_ _reddened slightly. “Thanks.”_

_Back then, Tifa had known_ _that that_ _had been_ _her cue to leave. That she should leave Cloud in peace to continue working on whatever he was working, and yet something_ _had_ _stopped her. Her feet_ _had_ _remained rooted to the ground and would not budge, and she_ _had_ _realized: She didn’t want to leave. Not yet. She wanted to get to know him better._

_“So how’s the boat coming along?” she_ _had_ _asked after a pause._

_Cloud_ _had_ _faintly relaxed at her question, and a small smile_ _had_ _dusted his lips as_ _he_ _had told her_ _, “_ _It’s coming together_ _._ _Slowly, but we’re getting there.”_

_“_ _It looks great.” Tifa had sat down on the deck, taking care not dirty her skirt or get any wood splinters in the dark fabric._ _“So what’s it like? Sailing, I mean. I’ve never been.”_

_Cloud_ _had_ _turned to her in surprise. “Never been?” he_ _had_ _repeated, incredulous. “But…_ _But_ _you work right over there!”_

_“Yeah, working,” Tifa_ _had_ _laughed. “I’ve never had the time to go out. And besides, where would I_ _even_ _go?”_

_“You could go anywhere.” Cloud_ _had_ _shifted his weight so he_ _was_ _tilted more towards her, and his calloused hand_ _had_ _splayed against the newly stained deck as he_ _had_ _continued, “Anywhere at all._ _”_

_“_ _Anywhere at all, huh?”_

_“That’s right.”_

_“_ _Okay, well…_ _I wanted to be an astronaut when I was little,” Tifa_ _had said_ _, her tone teasing. “Think_ _a sailboat_ _could take me to the stars?”_

_Cloud had made a low sound in his throat, something that could have been a laugh but not quite. “_ _Maybe not that far,” he_ _had_ _admitted. “_ _B_ _ut have you ever seen the stars from the middle of the ocean?” She had not, and his gaze_ _had grown_ _wistful_ _at her admission_ _. “There’s millions,” he_ _had_ _told her. “Too many to count. So many that you can’t even see the spaces between them.”_

_She had smiled and said,_ _“That sounds beautiful.”_

_And he_ _had_ _turned to her, his expression unreadable,_ _and_ _had replied_ _, “It is.”_

* * *

“I missed this,” Cloud sighed. Gentle waves lapped against the side of the boat, their tips made of white foam before crashing back into the deep blue. A full breeze filled the boat’s pearly sails and guided it forward, and the ship’s sleek hull, thinner than some of the other boats, cut easily through the cresting water. A seagull cried out above them before gliding in front, its thin wings beating against the wind. Cloud sighed again. “I haven’t done this since…”

His voice trailed off, as if he suddenly realized what he was saying.

“Since?” Tifa encouraged.

Cloud thickly swallowed. His gaze became distant. “I… I had a friend,” he finally, haltingly began. His use of _had_ was not lost on Tifa, and her chest squeezed in sympathy. “We used to go out all the time.”

 _The boat belonged to his best friend before he passed away,_ Marle had once told her. _Something about a storm?_

Tifa followed his gaze – out to the horizon, where no clouds marred its thin line. “Looks like it’s a clear day today,” she said before glancing up to him. His expression was unreadable as he looked down to her, and his knuckles were white with strain as they gripped the wheel. But what caught Tifa’s eye was how the pale sunlight danced in his blue eyes, staining their light blue shades of sea glass. She smiled at him. “I’m glad that you were able to sail again.”

Cloud, after a heartbeat, returned her smile. Yet there was something a little bittersweet in his gaze, something a little sad to his grin, as he said, “Me too.” He lifted his gaze to the open ocean stretching out before them, the wind pulling at his hair and clothes. “It’s what he would want.”

Tifa bit her lip. “But is it what you want?” she asked.

Cloud blinked, apparently caught off guard by the question. “What?”

“Is sailing something that you want?” she repeated.

He thought about it for a moment. Pursed his lips as he mulled it over. Then he blinked and said: “Yeah.” Something had cleared in his expression, as if he was realizing it for the first time and was somewhat startled by it. “Yeah,” he said again.

“Good.” Tifa reached upward, until her fingertips could graze the back of his hand. She could feel every thin scar as she told him, “I’m happy for you.”

His resulting expression melted something within her, and one of his hands let go of the wheel to briefly squeeze hers. “So...” He shifted his weight to his other foot, his other hand flexing against the wheel. “Where to?”

Tifa squeezed his hand in reply; three times, for three little words. “Anywhere.”

“Anywhere it is.”

Cloud turn the wheel, and the wind filled the sails.

* * *

_It quickly had begun Tifa’s habit to spend her lunch breaks with Cloud on_ _his boat_ _._ _Every day the boat_ _had_ _looked a little more put together, and_ _s_ _he_ _had_ _learned how to walk_ _on its deck_ _when it swayed beneath her feet, that she should keep her knees lightly bent and stance a little wider to move with the gentle rolling. She had pretended not to notice when Cloud began buying two of everything; two tumblers, two dishes, two seat cushions;_ _and in return, he_ _had_ _pretended not to notice that the Seventh Heaven chefs mixed up somebody’s order every day_ _right_ _before lunch._

 _“_ _Hey, Tifa,” Cloud had asked one day. “_ _When_ _I’m done repairing the boat_ _… Would you want to take her out with me?”_

_And Tifa had nearly choked on her hamburger. “Of course,” she had said. “Definitely. That would be…”_ _She had smiled. “_ _That would be great.”_

_And he had smiled in reply,_ _one of those rare smiles where she suddenly couldn’t breathe and the world seemed to hold still for a moment._

_“Thank you, Tifa,” he had said. “That means a lot.”_

_She had wanted to tell him that it meant so much to her, too. That she_ _wanted_ _nothing more that come with him,_ _that she wanted to see the world from his perspective – that she knew that it would be so much more than her tiny perspective sprung up from her small-town life._

_But instead she had said, “Remember, you promised to show me the stars.”_

_It was the closest Cloud had ever come to laughing._

* * *

At some point, Cloud had found the spot he had been looking for. It was in the middle of nowhere, little more than another dark blue patch in an endless expanse of other blue patched, but Cloud seemed confident that he had found his spot. When she had asked how he was so certain, he had simply quoted some coordinates and waved vaguely at the compass, and that had been the end of that.

He made quick work of furling the sail, and wrapped it up tightly against the mast before dropping anchor. The heavy anchor splashed into the water, sending glassy spray arching in all directions, and Tifa watched in fascinated as the anchor’s black disappeared beneath the rolling waves and into the endless blue beneath the small boat.

“This was our spot,” Cloud explained simply as he checked the anchor, making sure that it had sunk completely and wasn’t dragging uselessly against the seafloor. “Has a nice view of the shore, huh?”

Tifa twisted her body to squint at mainland, and could just make out white sandy beaches, the brown rooftops of town, the jagged outline of mountains crowning the horizon. “We’re far,” she said, surprised. “When did that happen?”

Cloud grinned. “She’s speedy, huh?”

“She is,” Tifa agreed. She hadn’t even realized how fast they had been going.

“Are you hungry?” Satisfied with the small sailboat’s state of affairs, he sat down on the bench across from her and pulled out a cooler from underneath the seat. “I brought a few things.”

“A few things?” Tifa teased as he opened the cooler. Cloud had thought of everything; drinks, sandwiches, pre-made salads… even little tubs of ice cream that were nestled against the ice. “How long are we staying out for, a week?”

He laughed. “Just a few more hours, until sunset,” he said as he handed her one of the drinks, its glass so cold that condensation beaded against it and chilled her skin.

“Sunset?”

“Well.” Cloud grinned at her, soft and crooked and everything she wanted. “I promised to show you the stars, hadn’t I?”

* * *

_The final piece of the boat to get repaired was the mast. It had taken a lot of work, and a lot of trial-and-error, but eventually Cloud had been able to hire a mechanic named Cid. Cid, as it had turned out, was a god-send. By some miracle he had the mast fixed within the week, and another to order the new sail and rig it_ _on._

_Tifa had left her shift early to watch them unfurl the sail for the first time._

_It had been a gloomy sort of day. The salty air was thick with moisture and heavy_ _clouds hung suspended in the gray sky, the sort of clouds_ _that_ _promised rain_ _. The sea gulls_ _had_ _paid no mind to the turning weather,_ _however,_ _and_ _had_ _continued to_ _shriek profanities_ _at one anothe_ _r,_ _a symphony of_ _tangled_ _noise_ _that_ _Cloud held his breath_ _to._

_“Ready?” Cid had called down._

_But_ _Cloud hadn’t replied the first time. He_ _had_ _only stared up at the newly repaired mast, and Tifa suddenly didn’t think that_ _it had been the_ _sky_ _that looked_ _stormy;_ _there had been another storm hidden in his gaze_ _, as if he_ _had been looking_ _at_ _the_ _temperamental_ _sky and yet_ _saw_ _something totally different. His hand_ _had_ _tightly gripped_ _the feather_ _his tattoo on his ar_ _m; his skin had paled further._

_Without thinking, she had looped his hand in his_ _and squeezed; a show of support, a little bit of comfort in a place where he had none_ _. “Ready?” she_ _had_ _murmured._

_And_ _Cloud had blinked, as if_ _he had suddenly_ _remembered_ _where he was, before_ _he had_ _curtly_ _nodded_ _. His hand_ _had_ _dropped from his_ _tattoo_ _. “Ready,” he_ _had_ _called up to Cid,_ _and his voice had been strong and even._

_Cid, without further ado, had unfurled the sail._

_Tifa remembered how white it_ _had_ _looked; a little piece of_ _pearly_ _perfection set against_ _a_ _dark, stormy sky._

_“_ _Looks good,” she_ _had_ _whispered._

_Cloud’s lips had pressed together, his eyes suddenly glassy, and he_ _had_ _only squeezed her hand_ _tightly_ _in_ _response_ _._

* * *

Firs the setting sun had burned the water a brilliant gold before it had sunk a little lower into the horizon, staining the sea rusty shades of reds and oranges and yellows, only for the vibrant colors to fade into black with every gentle wave. Seeing the sunset from the open ocean was different, somehow, than seeing it from land. The sunset felt more _real_ here. More consuming. Here, Tifa wasn’t just watching the sunset.

She was being swallowed by it.

“I can see why you like this,” Tifa murmured after a lengthy pause. She shifted her gaze up, up, up, to where the rosy sunset met the darkening, deepening twilight. “I think I can stay out here forever.”

Cloud popped his up from the hatch, a thick blanket in his arms. “Hm?”

“I said that this is nice.” Tifa gratefully accepted the blanket. It had gotten cold with the sunset, and goosebumps had peppered her skin. “That… I can probably do this every single day,” she finally admitted.

Cloud’s entire expression lit up. “It’s addicting,” he agreed, easing himself beside her. He tilted his chin towards the sky, to the twilight that was slowly overtaking the sunset’s rich auburn, and his expression was somber; as if he was beside her, and yet his mind was a thousand miles away.

But then his eyes suddenly widened. “There!” His fingers tugged on her blanket, demanding her attention, as he pointed with his other hand. “That’s the first star.”

Tifa followed his point and, sure enough, there was the first star of the night. It was a faint pinprick of light, a soft blink that fought desperately against the waning sunlight.

“That one is called _domum,_ or _home_ ,” Cloud explained, shifting to sit closer beside her. The boat swayed beneath them with every rolling wave. “It always points north, so if you’re ever lost, you can use it to -”

“- to find your way back home,” Tifa finished, blinking.

Cloud grinned at her. “Yeah.”

Somewhere in his explanation, his arm had somehow ended up around her shoulder, and she had somehow ended up nestled against his side, buried in his warmth. And as the night wore on, and a few more stars speckled the sky, they had moved to the bow of the ship; his arm now pillowing her head, the blanket now covering the both of them as they lay against the deck.

“Thanks for coming,” he said again, his voice low – low enough that it had nearly been buried by the rippling waves and the boat creaking beneath them. She turned to face him, and the contours of his face highlighted silver with starlight.“I...”

Tifa lifted a hand, brushed it against his cheek. “Of course, Cloud.” He leaned into her touch, eyelashes fluttering, and she teased, “You may just have to convince me to go back, though.”

His eyes danced at her implication, though his voice was even as he replied, “Convince you?”

Tifa hummed, not committing to an answer, only leaned slightly forward…

… and Cloud suddenly met her half way, their lips crushing together. His lips were hot against hers; soft yet firm, slow yet urgent, and pressed against her with such gentle desperation; as he was afraid that she’d disappear on him if he didn’t grasp her tightly enough, afraid that if he held on too tightly, she’d slip between of his fingers.

Those same fingers that were now pressing against her hips, his callouses so gentle and rough that Tifa leaned further into him, her hand slipping to the back of his head, her fingers weaving into his hair, her kisses burning.

She wanted to reassure him that she was here _._ Reassure him that she wasn’t going anywhere _;_ that their sky was clear of clouds, and that all they could see were stars.

* * *

_The day after Cloud had finished repairing his boat –_ _now_ _renamed from_ Freedom _to_ The Reunion – _she had s_ _potted him_ _on the docks, right before she_ _had_ _finished_ _her afternoon shift. There had been something different about him today. Maybe it was the way he leaned against mast, head down and arm draped over his knee, or maybe it were the two beer cans beside him that he_ _seemed to have been_ _doing his best to ignore._

_Tifa had frozen by the window, a plate of steamed clams swimming in_ _its_ _butter sauce, and_ _had_ _only watched as Cloud_ _had_ _grabbed the two beer cans and_ _had_ _slowly picked himself up. He had popped open the first,_ _grimacing_ _a bit as he took a sip, then_ _had_ _opened the other._

_But he hadn’t drunk it, as she had been expecting._

_Instead, he walked to the edge of the boat and had p_ _oured_ _the beer_ _off the side,_ _into the churning water._

_Tifa had_ _watched, transfixed, vaguely feeling like she had intruded on something, yet she had not been able to look away._

_She had_ _seen his lips move._

_Had seen the way his expression seemed intent on breaking, and her heart had broken for him._

_He had looked as if he had been saying goodbye._

_And yet, when she had met him when their shift had finished, he hadn’t looked depressed, as she had been expecting. Instead, Cloud had looked lighter than she had ever seen him. As if there had been a weight on his shoulders, but it had sunk into the water along with the cheap beer, and he could finally breathe again._

_That evening was the first time she had ever heard him laugh._

* * *

Stars swept across the dark sky as if they had been spilled there, a vibrant cluster of white bursting against dusted nebulas of reds, and violets, and greens. Tiny stars blinked back at her while the larger stars, their light threatening to swallow up its smaller neighbors, burned hot and bright and even. The deep ocean water reflected them all, a wavering silver mirror colored muted shared of reds, violets, and blue so dark that it was almost black.

 _Cloud had been right,_ Tifa realized, wide-eyed, her chin tilted upwards towards the sky. _I really can’t see the spaces between the stars._

“What do you think?” Cloud murmured, his breath hot against her neck. His eyelashes fluttered as he closed them.

Tifa only shook her head, her dark eyes still pinned on the scene above her. “I didn’t know that the stars could look like that,” she finally said. “I… There’s just so _many._ ”

She felt Cloud’s lips tug into a smile. “Cause of light pollution,” he finally said. “No lights way out here, so we can see all of them.”

“Think we can come again?” Their noses nearly brushed together as Tifa turned towards him, her hair fanned out beneath her. “Maybe tomorrow?”

Cloud huffed a laugh, and heat splashed across her face. “Maybe. Gotta check the weather...”

“I’ll check, too.” Tifa smiled, leaned slightly forward so that their noses touched. Cloud’s smile broadened, his eyes still closed. “Promise?”

His chest rumbled with laughter. “Promise.”

“And...” Tifa rolled over to face him completely. “And I know it’s past sunset, but… can we stay a little longer?”

Cloud opened his eyes at that, and there was such warmth within his gaze that, all of a sudden, the night didn’t feel that cold at all. “Of course,” he murmured and pulled her closer against him, cocooning her in his warmth. He nuzzled her hair, faintly inhaling. “We can stay as long as we want.”

“As long as we want,” Tifa echoed, tilting her head once against to the stars sweeping above her. How easily she could get lost within them, in the tiny spaces between the stars, and she leaned closer to Cloud, closing her eyes, thinking that this felt a lot like home.

**Author's Note:**

> So like I said in the beginning, I never really write one-shots - this is my first attempt, tbh - and have no idea how I did haha. But I hope you enjoyed it anyway?? 😊 
> 
> Anyway, I post all of my story/fic updates on my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Rand0mSmil3z) \-- feel free to follow if you liked this story & want to read more! You can find links to my ko-fi and published books there, too 😊
> 
> Thank you! 💙


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